Touch input device

ABSTRACT

A touch input device includes a base board unit, an upper board unit, and a touched unit. The base board unit has an elongate opening having opposite opening ends respectively defined by two end walls. The upper board unit is disposed on and above the base board unit and includes a touched sensing module. The touched unit is mounted to the base board unit and includes two positioning seats, a touched portion, and two resilient arms. The positioning seats respectively abut against the end walls. The touched portion corresponding in position to the touched sensing module-is disposed. Each resilient arm interconnects the touched portion and a respective one of the positioning seats.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority of Taiwanese Patent Application No.107112767, filed on Apr. 13, 2018.

FIELD

The disclosure relates to an electronic device, and more particularly toa touch input device for a mobile electronic device.

BACKGROUND

A notebook computer is usually equipped with a keyboard and a touchpador a trackpad to serve as input interfaces. Generally, a touchpadsubstitutes for a mouse and includes a touch sensing surface capable oftranslating a motion and position of a user's fingers to relativepositions to be displayed as a cursor and a plurality of clickablebuttons serving as right, left and center buttons of a mouse.

Taiwanese Invention Patent No. 1535366 discloses a supporting device forsupporting a touched sensing module of a notebook. The supporting deviceincludes a bottom frame and a supporting plate mounted slantly in thebottom frame and having two opposite ends that abut against the frame.The touched sensing module is supported by and disposed on thesupporting plate. When an external force is exerted on the touch sensingmodule, a touched portion of the touch sensing module is moved intocontact with the supporting plate to counteract a biasing force providedby the supporting plate which serves as a sense of tactile to the user.However, the high-rigidity structure of such supporting device resultsin a relatively high click ratio (snap ratio) that provides a discomfortsense of tactile to the user.

SUMMARY

Therefore, an object of the disclosure is to provide a touch inputdevice that can alleviate the drawback of the prior art.

According to the disclosure, a touch input device is provided to includea base board unit, an upper board unit and a touched unit. The baseboard unit has a first side rib extending in a first direction, a secondside rib extending in the first direction and opposite to the first siderib in a second direction transverse to the first direction, a topsurface, a bottom surface, and an opening formed at a middle portion ofthe second side rib. The opening is elongate and has two opening endsrespectively defined by two end walls and opposite to each other in thefirst direction, and an intermediate opening portion located between thetwo opening ends. The upper board unit is disposed on and above the baseboard unit, and has a first side connected to the first side rib of thebase board unit and a second side opposite to the first side of theupper board unit in the second direction and movable relative to thesecond side rib of the base board unit, a touched sensing moduledisposed at a middle portion of the second side of the upper board unit.The touched unit is mounted to the base board unit, and includes a pairof positioning seats, a touched portion, and a pair of resilient arms.The positioning seats respectively abut against the end walls. Thetouched portion is disposed between the positioning seats andcorresponds in position to the intermediate opening portion. Each of theresilient arms interconnects the touched portion and a respective one ofthe positioning seats. When an external force is exerted on the touchedsensing module, the touched sensing module is moved into contact withthe touched portion such that the touched portion is moved toward thebottom surface by resilient deformation of the resilient arms.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent inthe following detailed description of the embodiment with reference tothe accompanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a partly sectional, exploded perspective view of a touch inputdevice according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary enlarged view of a base board unit of the touchinput device;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic top view of the touch input device mounted to anotebook;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line V-V in FIG.4;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line VI-VI in FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 illustrates two plots representing response curves of aconventional touch input device and the touch input device of thepresent disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 2, an embodiment of a touch input deviceaccording to the disclosure mounted on a notebook (see FIG. 4) andserving as input device of the notebook is provided. The touch inputdevice includes a base board unit 10, an upper board unit 20 and atouched unit 30.

The base board unit 10 has a first side rib 11 extending in a firstdirection (X), a second side rib 12 extending in the first direction (X)and opposite to the first side rib 11 in a second direction (Y)transverse to the first direction (X), a top surface 13, a bottomsurface 14, a lower connecting portion 15 disposed adjacent to the firstside rib 11, and an opening 16 formed at a middle portion of the secondside rib 12. The opening 16 is elongate and has two opening endsrespectively defined by two end walls 161 and opposite to each other inthe first direction (X), and an intermediate opening portion 162 locatedbetween the two opening ends. The base board unit 10 is formed with twopairs of through holes 17 extending through the top surface 13 and thebottom surface 14 and disposed respectively in proximity of the twoopening ends of the opening 16. For each pair of the through holes 17,the through holes 17 are spaced apart from each other in the seconddirection (Y). Further, referring to FIG. 6, each of the through holes17 has a small diameter hole portion 172 and a large diameter holeportion 171 formed in the top surface 13 and having a diameter largerthan that of the small diameter hole portion 172. The lower connectingportion 15 is formed with three through holes 151 spaced apart from oneanother in the first direction (X) and extending through the top surface13 and the bottom surface 14 and two supporting seats 152 spaced apartfrom each other in the first direction (X) and arranged alternately withthe through holes 151.

The upper board unit 20 is disposed on and above the base board unit 10,and includes a top layer 25, a first side 21, a second side 22, acircuit board module 26, an upper connecting portion 23, a touchedsensing module 24, a rear supporting plate 27 and a front supportingplate 28. The first side 21 is connected to the first side rib 11 of thebase board unit 10. The second side 22 is opposite to the first side 21in the second direction (Y), corresponds in position to the second siderib 12 of the base board unit 10 and is movable relative to the secondside rib 12 of the base board unit 10. The circuit board module 26 isdisposed under the top layer 25. The rear supporting plate 27 and thefront supporting plate 28 are disposed under the circuit board module 26and are respectively adjacent to the first side 21 and the second side22. The touched sensing module 24 is disposed on the front supportingplate 28. The upper connecting portion 23 is disposed on the rearsupporting plate 27, and includes a plurality of insertion fins 231spaced apart from one another in the first direction (X) and extendingrespectively into the through holes 151 of the lower connecting portions15 of the base board unit 10 such that the upper board unit 20 isconnected fixedly to the base board unit 10.

Further, the rear supporting plate 27 is disposed on and abuts againstthe supporting seats 152 of the lower connecting portion 15 such thatthe second side 22 is movable relative to the second side rib 12 of thebase board unit 10.

Further referring to FIGS. 3 to 6, the touched unit 30 is mounted to thebase board unit 10 in proximity to the second side rib 12, and includesa pair of positioning seats 31, a touched portion 32, a pair ofresilient arms 33 and two pairs of anchoring portions 34. Thepositioning seats 31 respectively abut against the end walls 161. Eachof the positioning seats 31 has a bottom plate portion 311 and a mainportion 312. For each positioning seat 31, the bottom plate portion 311abuts against the bottom surface 14 of the base board unit 10 and themain portion 312 is disposed on and above a middle portion of the bottomplate portion 311, has a dimension smaller than that of the bottom plateportion 311 in the second direction (Y) and the same as that of theopening 16 in the second direction (Y), and extends into the opening 16to abut against a corresponding one of the end walls 161.

The touched portion 32 is disposed between the positioning seats 31,corresponds in position to the intermediate hole portion 162 of the hole16 and has a protrusion 321 extending toward the touched sensing module24 for contact therewith. Each of the resilient arms 33 interconnectsthe touched portion 32 and a respective one of the positioning seats 31.The two pairs of the anchoring portions 34 are formed respectively onthe bottom plate portions 311 of the positioning seats 31, respectivelyextend into the through holes 17 to connect the base board unit 10 tothe touched unit 30. Specifically, each of the anchoring portions 34 hasan enlarged distal end 341 (see FIG. 6) fittingly engaging the largediameter hole portion 171 of a respective one of the through holes 17.In one embodiment, each anchoring portion 34 is configured as a pillarextending through and out of the respective through hole 17. To assemblethe touched unit 30 to the base board unit 10, an uppermost end of eachpillar is processed to be melted and thus filling the large diameterhole portion 171 of the respective through hole 17 such that the meltedportion of each of the pillar forms the enlarged distal end 341 thatfittingly engages the large diameter hole portion 171 of the respectivethrough hole 17. In some embodiments, the touched unit 30 may be formedby metal and each anchoring portion 34 is configured as a rivetextending into and engaging the respective through hole 17 to connectthe base board unit 10 to the touched unit 30.

In this embodiment, the touched portion 32 has a first width (w1) in thesecond direction (Y), each of the resilient arms 33 has a second width(w2) in the second direction (Y) and the main portion 312 has a thirdwidth (w3) in the second direction (Y). The first width (w1) is greaterthan the second width (w2). The third width (w3) is greater than thefirst width (w1). In this embodiment, the positioning seats 31, theanchoring portions 34, the resilient arms 33, and the touched portion 32of the touched unit 30 are integrally formed and are made of a resilientmaterial or rubber.

Further referring to FIGS. 4 to 6, how the abovementioned structuresoperate will be described. FIG. 5 illustrates that the touched sensingmodule 24 is moved into contact with the touched portion 32 when anexternal force is exerted on the touched sensing module 24, such thatthe resilient arms 33 having the second width (w2) smaller than thefirst width (w1) of the touched portion 32 enables movement of thetouched portion 32 toward the bottom surface 14 by resilient deformationof the resilient arms 33. Further, by virtue of the third width (w3) ofthe main portion 32 of each positioning seat 31 that is greater than thefirst width (w1) of the touched portion 32, the touched portion 32stably moves in the intermediate opening portion 162 toward the bottomsurface 14 when being in contact with the touched sensing module 24.When the external force is released, each the resilient arm 33 returnsto its original position and the touched portion 32 is moved toward thetop surface 13 and back to its original position.

Further referring to FIG.7, two plots representing response curves of aconventional touch input device described in the background section andthe touch input device of the present disclosure being touched areshown. The left one of the plots is the response curve of a touchedsensing module of a conventional touch input device disclosed in theTaiwanese Invention Patent No. 1535366, and the right one of the plotsis the response curve of the touched sensing module 24 of the presentdisclosure. Each solid line represents a relationship between an exertedexternal force and a stroke of moving each touched sensing moduledownwardly when being touched, while each dashed line represents arelationship of the same when the external force is released. For eachplot in FIG. 6, point (P1) is a breakdown position where the externalforce exerted on each touched sensing module causes the supporting plateof the conventional touch input device or the resilient arm 33 to startbending, point (P2) is a position where the supporting plate or theresilient arm 33 bends the most, point (P3) is a dead centre where thesupporting plate or the resilient arm 33 moved to the end of the strokethereof, and force (F1)-(F5) represent amounts of the force exerted onthe supporting plate or the touched sensing module at points (P1)-(P5),respectively. A click ratio (snap ratio) (Cf/Cr) for each touchedsensing module can be calculated by multiplying a quotient of thedifference between the values of the forces (F1, F2) divided by thevalue of the force (F1) by 100%. As can be seen, the click ratio of theconventional touch input device is 22.1% and the click ratio of thetouch input device of the present disclosure is 20.4%, which is smallerthan that of the conventional touch input device. In this way, the touchinput device of the present disclosure provides a comfort sense oftactile to the user during use as compared to the conventional touchinput device.

In the description above, for the purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details have been set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the embodiment. It will be apparent, however, to oneskilled in the art, that one or more other embodiments may be practicedwithout some of these specific details. It should also be appreciatedthat reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “anembodiment,” an embodiment with an indication of an ordinal number andso forth means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristicmay be included in the practice of the disclosure. It should be furtherappreciated that in the description, various features are sometimesgrouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereoffor the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in theunderstanding of various inventive aspects, and that one or morefeatures or specific details from one embodiment may be practicedtogether with one or more features or specific details from anotherembodiment, where appropriate, in the practice of the disclosure.

While the disclosure has been described in connection with what isconsidered the exemplary embodiment, it is understood that thisdisclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended tocover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of thebroadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications andequivalent arrangements.

What is claimed is:
 1. A touch input device comprising: a base boardunit that has a first side rib extending in a first direction, a secondside rib extending in the first direction and opposite to said firstside rib in a second direction transverse to the first direction, a topsurface, a bottom surface, and an opening formed at a middle portion ofsaid second side rib, said opening being elongate and having two openingends that are respectively defined by two end walls and that areopposite to each other in the first direction, and an intermediateopening portion located between said two opening ends; an upper boardunit that is disposed on and above said base board unit, and that has afirst side connected to said first side rib of said base board unit anda second side opposite to said first side of said upper board unit inthe second direction and movable relative to said second side rib ofsaid base board unit, a touched sensing module disposed at a middleportion of said second side of said upper board unit; and a touched unitmounted to said base board unit, and including a pair of positioningseats which respectively abut against said end walls, a touched portionwhich is disposed between said positioning seats and which correspondsin position to said intermediate opening portion, and a pair ofresilient arms, each interconnecting said touched portion and arespective one of said positioning seats; when an external force isexerted on said touched sensing module, said touched sensing module ismoved into contact with said touched portion such that said touchedportion is moved toward said bottom surface by resilient deformation ofsaid resilient arms.
 2. The touch input device as claimed in claim 1,wherein said base board unit is formed with at least two through holesextending through said top surface and said bottom surface, said touchedunit further including at least two anchoring portions formedrespectively on said positioning seats, respectively extending into saidthrough holes to connect said base board unit to said touched unit. 3.The touch input device as claimed in claim 2, wherein each of saidthrough holes has a small diameter hole portion and a large diameterhole portion formed in said top surface and having a diameter largerthan that of said small diameter hole portion, each of said anchoringportions having an enlarged distal end fittingly engaging said largediameter hole portion of a respective one of said through holes.
 4. Thetouch input device as claimed in claim 3, wherein said positioningseats, said anchoring portions, said resilient arms, and said touchedportion of said touched unit are integrally formed.
 5. The touch inputdevice as claimed in claim 1, wherein said touched portion has a firstwidth in the second direction and each of said resilient arms has asecond width in the second direction, the first width being greater thanthe second width such that the resilient deformation of said resilientarms enables movement of said touched unit toward said bottom surface.6. The touch input device as claimed in claim 5, wherein said openinghas a third width in the second direction, the third width being greaterthan the first width such that said touched portion stably moves towardsaid bottom surface in said intermediate opening portion when being incontact with said touched sensing module.
 7. The touch input device asclaimed in claim 1, wherein each of said positioning seats has a bottomplate portion abutting against said bottom surface of said base boardunit and a main portion disposed on and above a middle portion of saidbottom plate portion, having a dimension smaller than that of saidbottom plate portion in the second direction and extending into saidopening to abut against a corresponding one of said end walls.
 8. Thetouch input device as claimed in claim 7, wherein said based board unitis formed with at least two through holes extending through said topsurface and said bottom surface, said touched unit further including atleast two anchoring portions formed respectively on said bottom plateportions of said positioning seats, respectively extending into saidthrough holes to connect said base board unit to said touched unit. 9.The touch input device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said touchedportion has a protrusion extending toward said touched sensing modulefor contact therewith.
 10. The touch input device as claimed in claim 1,wherein said touched unit is made of a resilient material.
 11. The touchinput device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said touched unit is made ofrubber.